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December 30, 2022
Dear Member;
Since March 15-16th /2022, when the bargaining committee initiated the original exchange of proposals, we have met for a total of 16 days of bargaining. As previously stated, bargaining has been extremely slow and frustrating with approximately 16 non-monetary items that have been signed off and agreed to in principle. On Dec 13th the Corporation came to the table and presented their best offer “at this time”. As you can see the brief summary of the attached offer “ MANITOBA HYDRO OFFER Dec 13th/2022 ", there doesn’t appear to be an appetite or the authority to address many of the significant and important items that have been identified to date:
- Keeping up with the cost of living to ensure that our members are able to maintain their current standard of living.
- Competitive wages (including an up to date job evaluation and compensation evaluation system), progression, retention, mileage rates, meals & per diems, evening and weekend premiums, and standby premiums competitive to that in the Canadian Utility Sector.
- Northern Attraction and Retention. There is no plan for current staff.
- Remote work and home start provisions so that our members can be treated like other employees wherever possible.
- Work/Life balance initiatives, workload, and staffing shortages.
- Guarantees that the corporation will not layoff our members unless there is a shortage of work.
- Covid Stipend for exposure to additional risks, hazards, and hardships. Given the nature of their roles and responsibilities, many employees in the bargaining unit were not able to perform their work from home during the pandemic, as well as consideration for the many sick days staff have had to use because of the Corporations policies.
- Proper reconciliation of hours and an 8hr workday.
- Guarantees that the corporation will maintain our current Defined Benefit Pension.
- Increased Sick Leave Vesting close to retirement as a mutually beneficial item that will help to curb abuse and benefit members.
- Safety Equipment and Footwear coverage.
Taking these facts into consideration, A STRIKE MANDATE VOTE will be sent out to the membership Jan 4/2023.
The strike mandate vote gives the IBEW’s Negotiating Committee the power to call a strike, if necessary, at some point in the future, but the mandate is given in the absence of a strike deadline. While a strike is not an impossibility at some point in the future, there WILL NOT be a strike immediately following a strong “YES” in the mandate vote. Although not a guarantee of success, when members vote “YES” in a strike mandate vote, the likelihood of negotiating a fair contract at the bargaining table increases substantially.
Voting YES and showing strength and solidarity in our team’s resolve to get a FAIR Collective Agreement will hopefully compel Hydro to start negotiating items that are of significance to our members. To this point, all other efforts on the part of IBEW 2034 have proven fruitless.
The question you are asked to vote on is whether or not you are willing to give your Bargaining Committee a Strike mandate. Your vote will be either a YES or a NO as outlined below:
#1. YES – I give my Bargaining Team authority to call a strike, if necessary, at some point in the future.
#2. NO - I do not give My Bargaining team authority to call a strike at any point in the future.
Members are asked to register their VOTE as soon as they receive the question. The deadline for voting will be Noon Jan 7th/2023. Members who have not registered a personal email address with the IBEW 2034 should be encouraged to do so at their earliest opportunity in order to receive their ballot. If you do not receive a ballot on Jan 4th/2023, please contact the office by email admin@ibew2034.com or call the office at 204-944-2034.
IBEW 2034 will proceed accordingly and use this vote of support to encourage Manitoba Hydro to start meaningful bargaining for our new Collective Agreement. Members need to be assured that the Union will exhaust every possible means of attaining a fair agreement and will do its utmost to avoid invoking a strike.
In solidarity,
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